Ireland looking to be more aggressive against England
IRELAND defender Aoife Mannion believes that the team must replicate the aggression they showed in the second half against France when England come to the Aviva Stadium for Tuesday’s blockbuster local derby.
Eileen Gleeson’s side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat in their opening Group A3 game, but there is little time to recover as the European Champions are coming to Dublin, smarting after being held 1-1 by Sweden at Wembley.
A crowd of around 30,000 is expected at Lansdowne Road, with the Tuesday evening kick-off and the fact that both Arsenal and Manchester City are in Champions League action likely to have an effect on the attendance.
However, Mannion, who will be coming up against Manchester United teammates Mary Earps and Alessia Russo, believes the crowd can be a decisive factor on Tuesday.
‘I think the supporters that will come to the Aviva will be looking for us to push on and get a result,’ said Mannion. ‘Don’t get me wrong, we are playing one of the best teams in the world. But we are going for the win. That might mean being aggressive in certain parts of the pitch, taking our chances and being really direct on the counter.’
Mannion admitted that Ireland struggled at times in the first half against France, but improved after the break and that gives her hope for Tuesday’s showdown.
‘We struggled in elements of the first half. We talked at half-time about the need to be more aggressive and we did that in the second half and that aggression is something we want to take into the Aviva against England. With the crowd behind us, it might give us that extra nudge to go and get a result.’